Dreaming of You

"Melissa Lozada Olivia’s novel-in-verse Dreaming of You is the most beautiful love letter to Selena fans all over the world. . .Toeing the line between horror and magical realism, this will undoubtedly frighten as it will bring back memories and inspire joy." —Sofía Aguilar, HipLatina "Melissa Lozada-Oliva's surreal novel-in-verse is sure to delight and surprise readers . . . You may know and love Selena's voice, but Lozada-Oliva's is utterly new, original, and worth hearing, too." —Elena Nicolaou, Oprah Daily "A feverish story of young adulthood, exploring how fandom and obsession shape how we relate to the world . . . Dreaming of You navigates the complexities of Latinx identity, self-loathing, love, and the loneliness of drifting into adulthood." —Miguel Salazar, Vulture "A macabre love story that casts an inquisitive eye on Latinidad, womanhood, and celebrity worship." —Keely Weiss, Harper's Bazaar "The novel is narrated in verse, a device that could feel gimmicky in less capable hands than Lozada-Oliva’s, but instead melds with the macabre-yet-gossipy subject matter to create an unforgettable portrait of a public figure who to many seemed larger than life." —Emma Specter, Vogue "One of the most original releases of the year Melissa Lozada-Oliva's surreal fusion of poetry and prose . . . [is] gruesome yet heartfelt, macabre yet intimate, brimming with life on every page." —Chicago Review of Books "Themes of celebrity, fandom, grief, queer identity, and loneliness feature in this novel in verse about a poet who resurrects Tejano pop star Selena. This story is as absurd and magical as it sounds." —Casey Stepaniuk, Autostraddle "A beautiful confluence of verse and prose . . . Organized into a four-act play, Dreaming of You pushes the limits of its verse-prose hybrid narrative form to explore the complexity of modern, generational immigrant identity of Latina women . . . The questions Lozada-Oliva’s book presents are poignant: Is it possible to be part of a tribe without losing the self? And can this tribe be recollected into an American geography without losing the heritage of the Central and South American diasporas it comes from? Dreaming of You brilliantly challenges the limits of one’s selfhood and reveals what’s lost when it’s contorted to fit the beholder’s gaze." —Michael Adam Carroll, Ploughshares "With the intensity and fluidity of a fever dream, Lozada-Oliva situates the figure of the assassinated superstar—'a star I can only see because it has died'—alongside the protagonist Melissa’s own self-narration. By reckoning with the complexities of celebrity, self-identity, citizenship, social media, and sisterhood, Lozada-Oliva names what it means to be both endangered and enraptured by hypervisibility; it is an invitation to 'make your own light,' to recast shadows." —Jordan Taliha McDonald, Vulture “Dreaming of You infuses this fandom subculture with the characteristics of a haunting—the past permeates the present, always on the cusp of breaking through the veil separating the living and the dead." —Vanessa Willoughby, Bitch Media "Poet and writer Melissa Lozada-Oliva is an unstoppable force within the poetry world."  —Laysha Macedo, HipLatina "At the center of this exploration of insecurities, joys, and identity stands Melissa Lozada-Oliva— an unapologetic poet who isn’t afraid of the rawness of the mind and is resilient in her writing— so much so that it feels like we’re talking to our best friend." —Bianca Pé